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Fishing report for July 25, 2013

Courtesy of Doug Solomon

Kara Solomon of New Castle is all smiles after boating a blue marlin in the recent Hatteras Grand Slam fishing tournament.

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bragging rights

Dewayne Lamb and Brian Jones won the Tuesday night Captain’s Quarters tournament at Smith Mountain Lake with 13.80 pounds. Doug Eubanks and Matt Belcher were second.

Mark Taylor | 981-3395

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Trips to the coast have been paying off for Roanoke-area anglers.

As I wrote in my Tuesday column, Fincastle 15-year-old Annalee Rader headed a team that pulled a 100-pound-plus tarpon from the South Carolina surf on July 18.

The previous weekend, Kara Solomon of New Castle hit it big while fishing in the Hatteras Grand Slam fishing tournament.

Solomon was fishing with her husband, Doug Solomon, aboard the Outlaw. In two days of fishing she boated a blue marlin, a sailfish and a white marlin to win the Laney Howell Lady Angler award in the tournament.

As for the fishing in Western Virginia, summer patterns are pretty well entrenched. While it's possible to dredge up fish during the heat of the day, the best action is coming early and late in the day.

Lakes

Stripers at Smith Mountain Lake are in schools, and trollers are picking up a few. Dropping live bait into schools spotted on sonar is also working.

Crankbaits and big plastics on deep brush and rocks are taking bass on Smith Mountain Lake.

Spinnerbaits are working well after dark on Claytor Lake.

Streams

High water is still an issue on the New River, though intrepid anglers are catching fish.

Tony Boggess at Pembroke Stop and Save (626-7077) said he's hearing reports that crankbaits are producing good smallmouth bass action, with red and orange the best colors. Inline spinners and crankbaits are fooling a few muskies, too.

Wade fishing remains challenging because of the high flows.

A big release from Gathright Dam on Tuesday bumped levels on the Jackson River way up, and the impact stretched downstream to the James River.

The James has also been seeing some hiccups due to thunderstorm-related rains, but fishing has generally been decent.

Guide Matt Miles reports that fly rod poppers have been taking some nice smallmouths for his clients. White streamers, Miles said, are the best bass bet on the Staunton River.

Trout anglers on tailwaters are having decent action using terrestrial-imitating flies in the evenings.

Smaller mountain trout streams, normally difficult to fish this time of year because of low water, are producing good trout action.

Saltwater

Tuna fishing has been good off the Virginia and North Carolina coasts, with offshore anglers also catching some good dolphin.

Saturday, September 14, 2013